Whaling Update

By Heather Rockwell, CSI Board

What Can Be Done About The Japanese Whale Research Program? In recent whaling by Japan, under the loophole in IWC rules that allows lethal whaling for loosely defined "scientific research," 227 of the 853 minke whales killed were pregnant. Whalers touted the find of unborn and extremely rare twins as evidence that the population was strong. Ninety percent of the minke whales were killed in the Australian sanctuary. Humane Society International's suit against the Japanese whaling company Kyodo Senpaku, an attempt to force Australia to take action to stop the whaling, will be opposed by Australia, because the nation is physically powerless to stop Japan. The Japanese Whale Research Program has no hesitation announcing what they have done, or that their self-assigned quota will kill 850 Antarctic minkes, 50 humpbacks, and 50 finbacks next season.

Perhaps because of the cold audacity of it all, no one questions the accuracy of the outrageous numbers, forgetting the whalers' historical penchant for killing what they found, and reporting what they wanted. Besides some heroic efforts to interfere with last season's hunt, no one can witness what the Japanese whalers really do. While downplaying the few courageous media reports of the glut of unsold whale meat, Japan proudly announces subsidized school lunches and hospital food featuring whale meat. The exhausting list goes on....

Meanwhile, after years of maneuvering, Japan may have finally gathered enough votes to control the next International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting, to be held next May in Anchorage, Alaska. The U.S. will run the meeting, assisted by Japan, which has skillfully placed the future of the U.S. Alaskan Eskimo aboriginal subsistence quota of bowhead whales in jeopardy. Can the U.S. get that quota from the IWC without caving in to Japan's demands?

In order to prepare for this sure-to-be contentious meeting hosted by the U.S., the collective group of U.S. anti-whaling non-governmental organizations (NGOs) met recently for a day-long strategizing and information gathering session in Washington, D.C. CSI was represented at the meeting by board members Heather Rockwell and Nancy Azzam.

The NGOs are concerned that the U.S. will do whatever is necessary to secure the bowhead whale quota for the Alaskan Eskimos, including cutting deals with Japan. Although the U.S. has said that they won't make any deals with Japan, we won't know for certain until next May. Meanwhile, Japan is traveling around trying to gather support for their Small-Type Coastal Whaling agenda.

On a more positive note, Slovenia has joined the IWC and will be voting in favor of whales. If more conservation-minded nations join the IWC before May, then anti-whaling nations will be able to maintain the simple majority over Japan, Norway, Iceland and their pro-whaling allies. Stay tuned to future issues of Whales Alive! for more updates.